The latest AP Poll is the kindest of the season for Penn State so far, with the Nittany Lions’ 39-0 steamrolling of Illinois acknowledged with five points in the poll. The five points are good for No. 31 in the country, though compared to No. 25 Texas A&M’s 101 points, a lot of work is left to be done before Penn State breaks into the Top 25. The Coaches Poll also features Penn State with eight points, though that’s only good for No. 34. This is the second time Penn State has received votes and points since the preseason poll, where Penn State also came in at No. 31 — the other was when it received four points the week before playing Ohio State.

For those unfamiliar with the polls, points are awarded by voters submitting their rankings of what they think the top 25 teams are. 25 points are awarded to the first-place team on the ballot, 24 for No. 2, one for No. 25, etc. This means, for example, five voters may have ranked Penn State at No. 25, or one voter put Penn State at No. 21, or a combination in-between.

Either way, the ranking has little significance in itself because such a small number of voters ranked Penn State so lowly. The significance comes because Penn State is clawing its way back into prominence and is being recognized for it — last week no voters put their faith in the Nittany Lions, this week five-or-so did, and in the next few weeks (if Penn State can beat Northwestern and Michigan), the team should see itself comfortably in the Top 25.

Other significant results from the latest poll: Ohio State remains No. 1 with 39 of 60 possible first-place votes, Michigan State is No. 6, Iowa is No. 10, and Michigan rounds out ranked Big Ten teams at No. 16. Unranked are Wisconsin (64 points), Northwestern (21 points, two spots ahead of Penn State), and finally, with a cozy two points, 5b Pitt.